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Class. 
Book. 



REPORT 



. JUDGE ADVOCATE GENERAL . 



OM 



€\t #rte 0f l^merkati fm0B, 



:»? 



ff 



THE >SONS OF LIBERTY. 



L Western Conspiracy 



IN AID OP THE 



SOUTHERN REBELLION. 



BLISHED BY THE UNION CONGEESSIONAL COMMITTEF,. 



WASHINGTON, D. C. 
CHRONICLE PRINT. 

186^, 







'^^tiMi 




Major Genbrai. MEAoa ■ " Dismissing, as 
aow useless to discuss, all questions as to the 
origin ef this war, we have daily and hoarly 
evidences that it exists, and that it can oTdy be 
terminated by hard fighting, and bj datermined 
efforts to overcome the armed enemies of the 
Government." 

Major GiiffERAL Buessidb: "Would it not 
be cowardly for us to say that this rebellion 
cannot be crushed, and the authority of the Go- 
vernment sustained? There is, in my mind, 
no question of it. There can be no such thing 
as laying down of arms or cessation of hostili- 
ties, until the entire authority of the Govern- 
ment is acknowledged by every citizen of our 
couaitry." 

Major Geneeai, Logan i "The greatest vic- 
tory of the rebels, greater than fltty Manas- 
eases, and the only one that can give them a 
particle of hope, will be to defeat the war party 
at the incoming campaign." 

Major General Wool : "Nothing, for aught 
that I can discover, will save the Union and its 
Government but the Buecesses of Grant, Sher- 
man, Farragut, and Sheridan." 

Major General Sherman : "To stop the war 
we must defeat the rebel armies that Ere ar- 
rayed against the laws and Constitution, which 
all must respect and obey." 

Major General Dix: " It has been my con- 
viction from the beginning that we can have 
BO honorable peace until the insurgent armies 
are dispersed and the leaders of the rebellioa 
expelled from the country. I believe that a 
cessation of hostilities would lead inevitably 
and directly to a recognition of the insurgent 
States; and when I say this I need hardly add 
that I can have no part in any political move- 
ment of which the Chicago platform is the 
basis. No, fellow-citizens, the only hope of 
securing an honorable peace — a peace which 
shall restore the Union and the Constilution — 
lies in a steady, persistent, end unremitting 
prosecution of the war." 

HMajor General Sickles: "I yield to no 
ciiizen or soldier in my eolicitude for the hono- 
cable termination of the war. The war was 
delibsrately began by the rebels, and is persis- 
tently waged bylhemto.divide and conquer the 
Union. It is not so strange that our enemies 
could find allies among £uropeaa antagonists 



of free institutions, but it will never raaat 
be a matter of humiliation and wonder that our 
own people should be seriously divided upon 
the question of submission or resistance. Let 
who will be for submission, I am for resistance 
as long as we have a battalion and a battle-field 
left. Until the Constitution and laws are vin- 
dicated in their supremacy throughout the land, 
the Government should be confided to no hands 
that will hesitate to employ all the power of 
ihe nation to put down the rebellion." 

Major General Butler, in a letter to Hon. 
Simon Cameron, says: "It seems to me the 
plain duty of every loyal man to support the 
election of Lincoln'and Johnson. 

"Can it be that any true man, especially any 
Andrew Jackson Democrat, can desire this 60- 
vernment put into the hands of the Messrs. 
Vallandigham, Woods, Seymour, Pendleton, 
Long, Harris, Voorhees, and their surrotind- 
ings. North and South. 

" The concurrent testimony of prisoners, de- 
serters, and refugees, that the rank and file of 
their [the rebel] armies are in the confident ex- 
pectation and belief in the promise of their lead- 
ers, that this will be their last campaign, that 
the nominees of the Chicago Convention will 
be elected in November, and that the indepen- 
dence of the Confederate States will be ac- 
knowledged, and a treaty of peace concluded." 

% 

Major General Curtis, in reply to an in- 
vitation to address the people upon the issues 
involved in the coming Presidential election, 
being compelled, owing to official dnt'es, to 
decline said invitation, says: "I would like to 
expose [to the people] the dangers and proba- 
ble disasters that would attend a change of 
* Gommancler-in-ChieJ ' inst&5 we are exerting 
all the national power to close out a most des- 
perate war. I would like also to show how 
pernicious such a change would be in view of 
the tender- footed war policy enunciated by 
General McClellan, in his foolish letter to ithe 
President, written in front of Eicbmond. I 
would like to denounce the Democratic plat- 
form that expresses 'sympathy^ instead of com- 
mencMion for soldiers who have fought and won 
victories for their country, and ask the hon»r 
due to victors, and despise the '«j/n)pa«%' of tJie 
world. * 

"I consider Mr. Lincoln's election perfectly 
certain, and the only object should be to keep 
Congress and the State Governments also irutif 
loyal. We want the ballot-box to show a 
strong support to the army." 



War Dbpahtmbmt, 

BtTKEAn OH" Mri/ITAKY JtWHOE, 

Wabhingtow, D. C, Octobers, 16G4. 
Jrm, E. M. Stantwt, Seeretary «f Wart 

3m : Having been instructed by you to pre- 
j^are a detailed report upon the mass of t^eU- 
moB7 famished me from diiTerent Bonrces in 
regard to the Secret Associiiions and Oonsptrades 
cgaittet the G<momment formed, principally in 
the Weetem States, by traitors and disloyal 
pafsoaa, I have now the honor to etibmit ae 

COMOWS : 

Baring more than a year past, it has been 
■{^nerally known to oar military authorities 
'Chat a secret treasonable organization, affiliated 
<f»th the Southern rebellion and chiefly military 
in tts character, has been rapidly extending 
Ktaelf throughout the West. A variety of agca- 
i^es, which will be speciied herein, have been 
■employetl, and successfully, to ascertain its ca- 
tore and extent, as well as its aims and its re- 
mits ; and, as this investigation has led to the 
MTest iu several States of a number of its promi- 
nent members as dangerous enemies to their 
tiountry, it, has been deemed proper to set forth 
in full the acts and purposes of this organixa- 
tJtOQ, and thus to make known to the cosntry 
'Ct large its intensely treasonable and revo- 
'r5vJonary spirit. 

The subject will be presented under the fol- 
owing heads : 

T. Its origin, history, names, &c. 

II. Its organization and officers. 

liL ItJ extent and numbere. 

IV. Its armed force. 

Y. Its ritual, oaths, and interior forms. 

^T. Its written principles. 

VII. Its specific purposes and operations. 

YIII. The witnesses and their tcstimoay. 

I. ITS ORIGIN, HISTORT, NAMES, &0. 

This secret association first developed itse.lf 

.; th3 West in the year 1863, about the period 

j: the first conscription of troops, which it 

■aimed to obstruct and resist. Originally known 

■Lb certain localities as the " Mutual Protection 

Society," the " Circle of Honor," or the " Oir- 

als" or '-Knights of the Mighty Host," but 

more widely as the "Knights of the Golden 

Circle," it was simply an inspiratioa of the rd- 

c.eUion, being little other than an extension 

tiEioag the dietloval and disaffected at the North 

<9f the association of the l.ttter name, which 

iitd existed for some years at the Southland 

:om which it derived all the chief features of 

c organieatioQ. 

During the summer and fall of 1663, the 
Jr-der, both at the North and youth, underwent 
.:om3 modidcations as well as a change of 
ruime. in ccnseqaence of a partial exposnre 
wkich had been mide of the signs and secret 
forms of the " Knights of the Golden Circle," 
g^orling Price had instituted as its successor in 
Miscouri a secret political association, which be 
cfisUcd the " Corps de Belgique," or '• Sonthem 
lt<eagae i" bia principal coadjutor oeing Chacies 



L. Hunt, of 8^. Louis, then Belgian Consul afc 
th»t city, but whoso 6Xfl5T«i<w was eubeequentiy 
revoked by the President on account of Lis dis- 
loyal practices. The special object of tfa© 
Corps de Belgique appears to have been to unite 
i.he rebel sympathizers of Missouri, with a v<iew 
to their taking up arms and joining Price upoci 
his proposed grand invasion of that Slate, acd 
to their recruiting for his army in the interim. 

Meanwhile, als^, there had been instituted 
at the North, in the autumn of 1863, by sundt^ 
disloyal persons, prominent among whom were 
Vallaudigham and P. C. Wright, of New Yoifc, 
a secret order, intended to be general throughonb 
the country, and aiming at an extended influence 
and povver, and at more positive results tbanita 
predecessor, and which was termed, and has 
einca been widely krown as the ©. A. K.,or 
" Order of American Knights.^' 

The opinion is expressed by Colonel Sander- 
son, Provost Marshal General of the Depart- 
ment, of Missouri, in his ofliei-il report upea 
the progressof the order, that it. was founded 
l»y Vatlandigham daring, his banishment;, and 
upon consultation at Richmond with Davis and 
other prominent trartors. It is, indeed, the 
boast of the order in Indiana and elsewhere, 
that its "ritual" camo direct from Davis him- 
self; and Mary Ann Pitman, formerly attached 
to the command of the reoel Forrest, and a 
most intelligent witness, whosa teslioiony wiH 
be l^^reafter referred to, states positively that 
Davis is 3 memoer of the order. 

Upon the institution of the principal orga- 
nizaiioa, it is represented that the " Corps de 
• Belgique" was modified by Price, and be- 
came a S^ulhem section of the G. A. K., and 
that the new name was generally aeiopled for 
tke order, both at the North and South. 

The secret signs and character of the order 
having become knosvn to our military authori- 
ties, further modifications ia the ritual and forms 
vereintrodaced,and its name was finally changed 
to that of the O. 8. L., or " Order of tbe^bns of 
L\heriyy'' or the "Knights of tho Order of the 
Sons of Liberty." These la.er changes are 
represented to have been first instituted, and 
the new ritual [compiled, in the State of Indi- 
ana, in May last, but the new name was at once 
generally adopted throughout the West, though 
ia some localities the assoeiation is still bettw 
known as the " Order oi American Knights." 

Meanwhile, iilso, the order has received certaia 
local designation:. In parts of Illinois it has 
been called at times the " Pn.ace Organization," 
in Kentucky the 'Star Orgsnieation." and ia 
Missouri as the "American Orgaaizaiion/* 
these, however, being apparently namej used 
outside of the lodges of the order. Its mem- 
bers have also been familiarly dtsisfuated as 
*'BatterBUts" by the country peoole of Illinois, 
Indiana, and Oliio, and its separate lodges hav^ 
also frequently received titles inteode t lor the 
public ear ; that in Chicago, far instance, beiO^ 
termed by its members the "Democratic Inriik- 
cible Club," that in Louisville, iha "Democratia 
Read'mg Room," &c. 

It ia to be adited that ia the State of Net? 



York, and other parts of the North, the secret 
political asBOciatiOQ known as ihe "■'' McCUllafi 
Mniiie Guard " would seem to be a branch of 
the O. A. K., having snbstantially the same ob- 
jects, to be accomplished, however, by means 
expressly snited to the localities in which it is 
established. For, as the Chief Secretary of this 
association, Dr. K. F. Stevens, stated in Jane 
last to a reliable witness whose testimony has 
been furnished, "those who represent the Me- 
Clellan interest are compelled to preach a vigo- 
rous prosecution of the war, in order to secure 
tibe popular sentiment and allure voters." 

B. — ITS ORGAOTZATION AND OFFICERS. 

From printed copies, heretofore seized by the 
Government, of the constitutions of the Supreme 
eouncil. Grand CoxmcU, and County Parent 
Temples, respectively, of the Order of Sons of 
Mberty, in connection with other and abundant 
testimony, the organization of the order, in its 
latest form, is ascertained to be as follows: 

1. The government of the order throughout 
the "United States is vested in a supreme coun- 
cil, of which the oflScers are a supreme com- 
mander, secretary of state, and treasurer. These 
officers are elected for one year, at the annual 
meeting of the supreme council, which is made 
sp of the grand commanders of the several 
States, ex o^lcio, and two delegates elected from 
each State in which the order is established. 

3. The government of the order in a State is 
vested in a Grand Council, the officers of which 
are a Grand Commander, Deputy Grand Com- 
mander, Grand Secretary, Grand Treasurer, and 
a certain number of Major Generals, or one for 
each Military District. These officers also are 
elected annually by "representatives" &*om the 
County Temples, each Temple being entitled to 
two representatives, and one additional for each 
thousand members. This body of representa- 
tives is also invested with certain legislative 
fonctions. 

3. The Parent Temple is the organization of 
the order for a county, each temple being 
formally instituted by authority of the Supreme 
Council, or of the Grand CouncU or Grand 
Commander of the State. By the same au- 
thority, or by that of the officers of the Parent 
Temple, branch or subordinate temples may be 
established for townships in the county. 

But the strength and significance of this or- 
ganization lie in its military character. The 
secret constitution of the Supreme CouncU pro- 
vides that the Supreme Commander " s^^K &e 
commander-in- chief of all military Jorces belong- 
ing io the order in tJis various States when called 
into actual service;^' and further, that the Grand 
Commanders '^ shall be commande-rs-in-chiej of 
tlie military forces of their respective fitates. 8ul>- 
ordinate to the Grand Commander in the State 
are the " Major Oeit^rcds,'* each of whom com- 
mands his separate district and army. In In- 
diana the Major Generals are four in number. 
In Illinois, where the orgaaization of the Order 
ia considered most perfectjthe members in each 
Congressional District corapoea a '•'■brigade,'" 
whid» is commanded i.y a '■'■Brigaditv General." 
The members of each county consiitute a ''^regi- 
■raeM," with a '■^oolonel" iii command, and 
t^sa of each township form a -' company.^' A 
somewhat similar Byeieia prevails in Indiana, 
■wlwro also each ectnpany is divided into 



*' squcxls," each with its chief— an arrangemenv 
intended to facilitate ihegueriHa mode of warfare 
in case of a general outbreak or local disorder. 

The " McClellan Minute Guard," as appears 
from a circular issued by the Chief Secretai7 
in New York in March last, is orgaiuzed upon a 
military basis similar to that of the erde? 
proper. It is composed of companies, one foj 
each election district, ten of which constitute a 
'• brigade," with a " brigadier general " at its 
head. The whole is placed under the authoiity 
of a "commander-in-chief." A strict obe- 
dience on the part of members to the orders of 
their superiors is enjoined. 

The first "Supreme Commander" of the • 
order was P. C. Wright, of New YorSt, 
editor of the New York News, who was in Maj 
last placed in arrest and confined in Fort iia- 
fayette. His successor in office was Vallandig- 
ham, who was elected at the annual meeting of 
the Supreme Council in February last. Koberi 
Holloway, of IlliDois, is represemed to have 
acted as Lieutenant General, or Deputy Sm 
preme Commander, during the absence of Yal- 
landigham from the country. The Secretary oi 
State chosen at the last election was Dr. Mas- 
sey, of Ohio. 

In Missouri, the principal officers were Caias . 
L. Hunt, grand commander, Charles E. Dunu. 
deputy grand commander, and Green B. Smith , 
grand secretary. Since the arrest of these thre"6 
persons (all of whom have made confessioHGj 
which will be preeenily alluded to), James A. 
Barrett has, as it is understood, oiliciated aa 
grand commander. He is stated to occtipy 
also the position of chief of staff to the Supreme 
Commander. 

The Grand Commander in Indiana, H. H. 
Dodd, has just been tried at Indianapolis by a 
military commission for "conspiracy agaiast 
the Government," "violation of the laws ©I' 
war," and other charges. The Deputy Grand 
Commander in that State is Horace Heffrezi.. 
and the Grand Secretary, W. M. Harrison. Th£ 
Msjor Generals are W. A. Bowles, John €. 
Walker, L. P. Milligan, and Andrew Hom- 
phreys. Among the other leading members o« 
the order in that State are Dr. Athon, State 
secretary, and Joseph Eistine State auditor. 

The Grand Commander in Illinois is 

J add, of Lewistown; and B. L. Piper, of Spring- 
field, who is entitled "Grand Missionary" oi 
the State, and designated also as a member ©f 
Vallandigham's staff, is one of the most aetii'& 
members, having been busily engaged threugii- 
out the summer in establishing temples and 
initiating members. 

Ia Kenttucky, Judge Bullitt, of the Court o/ 
Appeals, is grand coKmander, and, with Dr. F. 
F. Kalfus and W. R. Thomas, jailor in Louis- 
ville, two other of the most prominent mem- 
oers, has been arrested and confined fey the 
military authorities. In New York, Dr. E. ¥. 
Stevens, the chief secretary of the McClellan 
Minute Guard, is the most active ostensible re- 
presentative of the secret order. 

The greater part of the chief and su'bordiiiats- 
officers of the order, and its branches, as weM 
aa the principal members thereof, are knows to 
the Government, and, where not already ar- 
rested, may regard themselves as under a con- 
stant military surveillance. So complete hac3 
been the exposure e.f this secret league, tUnt 



5 



howover frequently the concplratorB may cliange 
its name, forms, passwords, snd signals., its true 
pocpoB^e and opcrDtionc cannot longer be con- 
cealed from the military authorities. 

It is to be remarked that the Supreme Coun 
Gil of the order, which annually meets on Feb- 
roacy23, convened this year at Now York city, 
aud a special meeting was then appointed to be 
held at Chicago, on July 1, or just prior to the 
day then fixed for the convention of the Demo 
cratic party. This convention having been 
3>«BtpoBed to August 29, the special meeting of 
tfao Supreme Council was also postponed to 
. August 27, at the same place, and was duly 
convened accordingly. It will be remembered 
that a leading member of the convention, in 
the course of a speech made before that body, 
-aliaded approvingly to the session of the Sons 
«f Liberty at Chicago at the same time, as that 
of an organ.zation in harmony with the senti- 
aient and projects of the convention. 

It may be observed, in conclusion, that one 
n.ot fully acquainted with the true character and 
intention of the order might well suppose that, 
la designating its officers by high military titles, 
-and in imitating in its organization that esta- 
WiBhed in our armies, it was designed merely to 
tender itself more popular and attractive with 
the masses, and to invest its chiefs with a cer^ 
taia sham dignity; but when it is understood 
that the order comprises within itself a large 
army of well-armed men, constantly drilled 
and CKercised as soldiers, and that this army is 
held ready at any time for such forcible resist- 
ance to our military authorities, and euch active 
cooperation with the public enemy as it may be 
called upon to engage in by its commanders, it 
will be perceived that the titles of the latter are 
not aesamed for a mere purpose of display, but 
tbat they are the chiefs of an actual and formi- 
nJ able force of conspirators against the life of 
tike Government, and that their military system 
ifl, ae U has been remarked by Colonel Sander 
OOB, " the grand lever used by the rebel Govern- 
taent f»r its army operations." 

lit. — ITS BXTBNT AND NUMBERS. 

The "Temples" or "Lodges" of the order 
are numerously scattered through the States of 
Ijadiana, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, and Ken- 
tuoky. They are also officially reported as 
established, to a less extent, in Michigan 
arxd the other Western States, as well 
as in New York, and also in Pennsylvania, 
New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connebticut, 
!New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, and Tennes- 
see. ^Sodd, the Grand Commander of Indiana, 
in ao^address to the members in that State of 
February last, claims that at the next annual 
meeting of the Supreme Council Hn February, 
1665), every State in the Union will be repre- 
sented, and adds, "this is the first and only 
true national organization the Democratic and 
Conservative men of the country have ever at- 
tempted-" A provision made in the constitu- 
tion of the Council for a representation from the 
Territories shows, indeed, that the widest ex- 
tension of the order is contemplated. 

In the States first mentioned the order is most 
strongly centred at the following places, where 
are situated its principal "temples." In In- 
diana, at Indianapolis and Vincennes ; in Illi- 
nois, at Chicago, Springfield, and Quincy (a 



Urge proportion of the lodges in and about the 
latter place having been fonnded by the noto- 
rious guerilla chief, Jackman); in Ohio, at 
Cincinnati, Dayton, and in Hamilton county 
(which is proudly termed by members " The 
South Carolina of the North"); in Missouri, at 
St. Louis ; in Kentucky, at Louisville ; and in 
Michigan, at Detroit (whence communicatien 
was freely hadl by the JeacVfcrs of the order with 
Vallandigham during his banishment, either by 
letters addressed to him through two promi- 
nent citizens and members of the order, or by 
personal interviews at Windsor, C.W.). It is to 
be added that the regular places of meeting, as 
well as the principal rendezvous and haunts of 
the members in these end less important places, 
are generally well known to the Govemmeni.. 

The actual numbers of the o?der have, it is 
believed, never been officially reported, and 
cannot, therefore, be accurately ascertained. 
Various estimates have been made by leading 
members, some of which are no doubt conside- 
rably exaggerated. It has been asserted by de- 
legates to the Supreme Council of February 
last, that the number was there represented to 
be from 800,000 to 1,000,000 ; but Vallandig- 
ham, in his speech last summer at Dayton, 
Ohio, placed it at 500,000, which is probably 
much nearer the true total. Tift number of its 
members in the several States has been diflerently 
estimated in the reports and statements of its 
officers. Thus, the force of the order in Indiana 
is stated to be from 75,000 to 125,000; in Illinois, 
from 100,000 to 140,000 ; in Ohio, from 80,000 to 
108,000 ; in Kentucky, from 40,000 to 79,000 ; in 
Missouri, from 20.000 to 40,000; and in Michi- 
gan and New York, obout 20,000 each. Ite 
representation in the other States above men- 
tioned does not specifically appear from the 
testimony ; but, allowing for every exaggeration 
in the figures reported, they may be deemed to 
present a tolerably faithful view of what, at 
least, is regarded by the order as its true force hi 
the States designated. 

It is to be noted that the order, or its coun- 
terpart, is probably much more widely extended 
at the South even than at the North, and that a 
large proportion of the officers of the rebel army 
are represented by most reliable witnesses to be 
members. In Kentucky and Misoouri, tbe 
order has not hesitated to admit as members, 
QOt only officers of that army, but also a con 
si^erable number of guerillas, a class who 
might be supposed to appriciate most readily 
its aims and purposes. It is fuHy shown that 
ae lately es in July last several of these mfflana 
were initiated into the first degree by Dr. Kal- 
fns, in Kentucky. 

IV. ITS AJIMBD POROB. 

A review of the testimony in regard to the 
armed force of the order will materially aid in 
determining its real strength and numbers. 

Although the order has from the outset par- 
taken of the military character, it was not tiB 
the summer or fall of 1863 that it began to be 
generally organized as an armed body. Since 
that date its officers and leaders have been 
busily engaged in placing it upon a military 
basis, and in preparing it for a revolutionary 
movement. A general system of drilling has 
been instituted and secretly carried out. Mem- 
bers have been instructed to be constantly pro- 



6 



vided with weapoBS, and ia some localities it 
^s been abeolutely required that each member 
fihonld keep at his residence, at all times, cer- 
tain arms and a specified quantity of ammiinj- 
tion. 

In March last, the entire armed force of the 
order, eapable of being mobilized for effective 
service, was represented to be SiO.OOO men. 
The details, however, upon which this state- 
ment was based are imperfectly set forth in 
the testimony, and it is not known how far this 
number may be exaggerated. It is abundantly 
shown, however, that th« order, by means of a 
*ax levied xjpon its members, has accumulated 
considerable lunds for the purchase of arms 
and ammunition, and that these have been 
procured in large quantities for its use. The 
witness Clayton, on the trial of Dodd, esti- 
mated that two-thirds of the order are furnished 
with arms. 

Green B. Smith, grand secretary of the order 
in Missouri, states in his confession of July 
last: "I know that arms, mostly revolvers, and 
ammunition have been purchased by members 
in St. Louis to send to members in the country 
where they could not be had;" and he subse- 
quently adds that he himself alone clandes- 
tinely purchased and forwarded, between April 
15th and 19th last, about 2€0 revolvers, with 
5,600 percussion caps and ether ammunition. 
A muster roll of one of the country lodges of 
that State is exhibited, in which, opposite the 
name of each member, are noted certain num- 
bers, under the heads of "Missouri Republi- 
can," "St. Louis Union, =' "Anzeiger," "Mis- 
cellaneous Periodicals," "Books," "Speeches," 
and "Reports;" titles which, when interpre- 
t.ed, severally signify single-barrelled guns, dou- 
T)l0-bar relied guns, revolvers, private ainmunitieny 
private lead, company powder, company had; 
iheroU thus actually setting forth the amount 
of arms and ammunition in the possession Ol 
the lodge and its members. 

In the States of Ohio and Illinois, tbe order 
is claimed by its members to be unusually well 
armed with revolvers, carbines, &c. ; but it is in 
regard to the arming of the order iu Indiana 
that the principal statistics have been presented, 
and these may serve to illustrate the sys- 
tem which has probably been pursued in most 
of the States. One intelligent witness, who has 
been a member of the order, estimates that ia 
March last there were in possession •f the 
order in that State 6,0«0 muskets and 60,000 re- 
volvers, besides private arms. Another member 
testifies that at a single lodge meeting of two 
hundred and fifty- two persons, which he attend- 
ed early in the present year, the sum of $4,000 
was subscribed for arms. Other members pre- 
sent statements iu regard to the number oi: 
arms iu their respective counties, and all agree 
in representing that these have been constantly 
forwarded from Indianapolis into the interior. 
Beck & Brothers is designated as the firm in 
that city to which most of the arms were con- 
signed. These were shipped principally from 
the East; pome packages, however, were sent 
from Cincinnati, and some from Kentucky, and 
the boxes were generally marked "pick-axes," 
"hardware," "nails," household eoods," &c. 
General Carricgton eslimatrs that in Feb- 
ruary and March last nearly 30,000 guns and 
revolvers entered the State, and this esti- 



mate is based upon an actual inspection ot in 
voices. The true number introduced was tber s- 
fore probably considerably greater. That oflieer 
adds that oh the day in which the sale of arms 
was stopped by his order, in Indianapolis, nearly 
1,000 additional revolvers had been contracted 
for, and that the trade could not supply the ^e- 
matid. He further reports that after the in- 
troduction of arms into the Department oi 
the North had been prohibited in Gene- 
ral Orders of March last, a seizure was 
made by the Government of a laj^e 
quantity of revolvers and 135,000 rounds of ara- 
munition, whichhad been shipped to theflrmki 
ludianapalis, of which H. H. Dodd, Grand Coaa- 
mander, was a member ; that other arms aboiit 
to be shipped to the same destination were seiaeit 
in New York city ; and that all these were 
claimed as the private property of John ^. 
Walker, one of the Major Generals of ths 
order in Indiana, and were represented to have 
been ^'■purcfiascdfor afeio frietids." iti3t»5)e 
added that at the office of Hon. D. W. Voos^- 
hees, M. C, at Terre Haute, were discovered 
letters which disclbsed a correspondence be- 
tween him and ex -Senator Wall, of New Jersey, 
in regard to the purchase of 20,000 GaiitaW; 
rifles, to be forwarded to the West. 

It appears in the course of the testimony, that 
a considerable quantity of arms and amrautti- 
tion were brought into the State of Illinois from 
Barlington, Iowa, and that ammunition wai 
shipped from New Albany, Indiana, into Ken- 
tucky ; it is also repi^sented that, had Valian- 
digham been arrested on his return to Ohio, i* 
was contemplated furnishioi? the order wittt 
arms from a point in Canada, near Windsov, 
where they were stored and ready for use. 

There remains farther to be noticed, iu this 
connection, the testimony of Clayton upon tbe 
trial of Dodd, to tbe effect that arms were to be 
furnished the order from Nassau, N. P., by way 
of Canada ; that, to defray the expense of these 
arms or their transportation, a formal SBsesti- 
ment was levied upon the lodges, but that the 
transportation into Canada was acinally to be 
famished by the Confederate authorities. 

A statement was made by Hunt, Grand Com- 
mander of Missouri, before his arrest, to a fel- 
low member, that shells and all kinds of muni- 
tions of war, as well as infernal machines, were 
manufactured for the order at Indianapolis; and 
the late discovery in Cincinnati of samples of 
hand-grenades, conical shells, and rockets, of 
which one thousand were about to be manufac- 
tured, under a special contract, for the 0. 3. L., 
goes directly to verify such a statement. 

These details will convey some idea of the at- • 
tempts which have been made to place the order 
upon a war footing and prepare it for aggressive 
movements. But, notwithstanding all the ef- 
forts that have been put forth, and with con- 
siderable success, to arm and equip its members 
as fighting men, the leaders of tbe order have 
felt themselves still very deficient in their arma- 
ment, and numerous schemes for increasing 
their armed strength have been devised. Thus, 
at the time of the issuing of the general order 
in Missouri requiring the enrolment of sM 
citizens, it wa« proposed in the lodges ol 
the O. A. K., at St. Louis, that certain mem- 
bers should raise companies in the militia, in 
their irespective wards, and thus get comman«l 



of as msny Governmeat arms and equipments 
as poseMe, for the future use of the order. 
Again it was proposed that all the members 
shotfld enroll themselves in the militia, instead 
of paying commulation, in this way obtaining 
possession of United States arms, and having 
the advantage of the drill and military instruc- 
tion. In the council^ of the order in Kentucky 
in June last, a scheme was devised for disarm- 
faig all the negro troops, v?hich it was thought 
cot^d be done withoui. much difiiculty, and ap- 
pi'opriating their arms for the purposes of the 
<5» Order. 

The despicable treachery of these proposed 
plans, as evincing the ayiimus of the conspi- 
racy, need not be commented upon. 

It is to be observed that the order in the 
State of Missouri has counted greatly upon 
support from the enrolled militia, in case of an 
invasion by Price, as containing many mem- 
bers and friends of the O. A. K.; and that the 
"Paw-Paw militia," a military organization of 
Buohanan county, as well as the militia of 
Platte and Clay counties, known as "Flat 
Foots," have been relied upon, almost to a 
man, to join the revolutionary movement. 

V. ITS RITUAL, OATHS, AND INTERIOIl TORMS. 

The ritual of the order, as well as its secret 
signs, passwords, &c., has been fully made 
known lo the military authorities. In August 
last, one hundred and twelve copies of the 
ritual of the O. A. K. were seized in the office of 
Hon. D. W. Voorhees, JI. C, at Terre Haute, 
and a large number of rituals of the O. 8. 
L., together with copies of the constitutions of 
the councils, &c., already referred to, were 
found in the building at Indianapolis, occu- 
pied by Dodd, the Grand Commander oflndi- 
anna, as iiad been indicated by the Govern- 
ment •wit^gs and detective, Stidger. Copies 
were also discovered at Louisville, at the resi- 
dence of Dr. Kalfus, concealed within the 
mattress of his bed, where, also, Stidger had 
ascertained that they were kept. 

The ritual of the O. A. K. has also been fur- 
nished by the authorities at St. Louis. From 
tihis ritual, that of the O. S. L. does not mate- 
rially differ. Both are termed "progressive," 
in^lhat they provide for ^ye separate degrees of 
membership, and contemplate the admission of 
a member of a lower degree into a higher one 
only upon certain vouchers and proofs of fit- 
ness, which, with each ascending degree, are re- 
<iuired lo be stronger and more imposing. 

Each degree has its commander or head ; the 
Fourth or "Grand" is the highest in a State; the 
Fjifth or " Supreme," the highest in the United 
States ; but to the first or lower degree only do 
ttie great majority of members attain. A large 
proportion of these enter the order, supposing 
it to be a " Democratic " and political associa- 
tion merely ; and the history of the order 
furnishes a most striking illustration of the 
gnss and criminal deception which may be 
practised upon the ignorant masses by un- 
acnpnlous and unprincipled leaders. The mem- 
bers of the lower degree are often for a con- 
siderable period kept quite unaware of the true 
purposes of their chiefs. Bat to the latter they 
are bound by their obligation" to yield prompt 
and implicit obedience to the utmost of their 
ability, without remonstrance, hesitation, or 
delay," and meanwhDe their minds, p.nder the 



diseipline and teaehings to which they are Fn^- 
jected, become educated and accustomed to 
contemplate with comparative unconcern the 
treason for which they are preparing. 

The oaths, "invocations," "charges," «ftc., 
of the ritual, expressed as ibey are in bombas- 
tic and extravagant phraseology, would excit© 
in the mind of an educated person only ridicule 
or contempt, but upon the illiterate they are 
calculated to make a deep impression, the effect 
and importance of which were dwubtless fully 
studied by the framers of the inetrument. 

The oath whicu is administered upon the io- 
troduction of a member into any degree is espe- 
cially impofcing in its language; it prescribes 83 
a penalty for a violation of'the obligation as- 
sumed, " ashameful death, "andfurtherthat the 
body of the person guilty of sxich violation ehaU 
be divided in four parts and cast out at the 
four " gates" of the temple. Not only, as has 
been said, does it enjoin a blind obedience to 
the orders of the superiors of the order, but it. 
is required to be held of paramo7int obligation to 
any oath which may be administered to a mem- 
ber in a court of justice or elsewhere. Thus, ii5 
cases where members have been sworn, by offi- 
cers empowered to administer oaths, to spealr 
the whole truth in answer to questions that may 
be put lo them, and have then been examinee! 
in reference to the order and their connection 
therewith, they have not only refused to give 
any information in regard to its character, hv: 
have denied that they were members, or even 
that they knew of its existence. A conspicuoTis 
instance of this is presented in the cases ot 
Hunt, Duna, and Smith, the chief officers of the 
order Jn Missouri, who, upon their first exami- 
nation under oath, after their arrest, denied all 
connection with the order, but confessed, also 
under oath, at a subsequent period, that this 
denial was wholly false, although in accordance 
with their obligations as members of the order. 
Indeed, a deliberate system of deception in re- 
gard to the details ol the conspiracy is incul- 
cated upon the members, and studiously pur- 
sued; and it may be mentioned in this connec- 
tion, as a similarly despicable feature of tM 
organization, that it is held bound to injurcthe 
Administration and officers of the Govern/iTent, 
in every possible manner, by misrepresentation 
and falsehood. 

Members are also instructed that their oaU» 
of membership is to be held paramount to an 
oath of allegiance, or any other oath which 
may impose obligations inconsistent with those 
which are assumed upon entering the order. 
Thus, if a member, when in danger, or for the 
purpose of facilitating some traitorous design, 
has taken the oath of allegiance to the United 
States, he is held at liberty to violate it on the 
first occasion, his obligation to the order being 
deemed superior to any consideration of doty 
or loyalty prompted by such oath. 

It is to be added that where members are 
threatened with the penalties of perjury, in caee 
of their answering falsely to questions pro- 
pounded to them in regard to the order before 
a court or grand jury, they are instructed to 
refase to answer such questions, alleging as a 
ground for their refusal that their answers may 
crifninate themselves. The testimony shows 
tlial this course has habitually been pnrsaed by 
members, especially in Ind'ana, when placed Jn 
such a situation. 



Beside the oaths and other forms and cere- 
mo..ies which have been alluded to, the ritual 
c<!>Jitains what are termed " Declarations of 
Fi'iiieiipiee." These declaretionB, which are 
most important as exhibiting the creed and 
bliaracteir of the order, as inspired by the prin- 
ciples of the rebellion, will be liilly presented 
tmder the next branch of the subject. 

The signs, signals, passwords, Ac, of the order 
st'e set forth at length in the testimony, but 
jneed only be briefly alluded to- It is a most 
significant fact, as showing the intimate rela- 
tions between the northern and southern sections 
of the secret conspiracy, that a member from a 
Northern Stg.te is enabled to pass without risk 
through the South by the use of the signs of re- 
cognition which have been established through- 
out the order, and by means of which members 
fcomdistantpoints,thoughmeeting as strangers, 
are at once made known to each others as "bro- 
thers." Mary Ann Pitman expressly states In 
h/6T testinaony that whenever important de- 
spatches are required to be sent by rebel gene- 
rais beyond their lines, members of the order 
are always selected to convey them. Certain 
passwords are also used in common in both sec- 
tions, and of these, none appears to be more 
familiar than the word "Nu-oh-lac," or the 
ttame " Calhoun" spelt backward, and which is 
employed upon entering a temple of the first 
degree of the O. A. K. — certainly a fitting pass- 
word to such dens of treason. 

Beside the signs of recognition, there are 
»i~]ns oj warning and danger, for use at nigbt as 
well as by day; as, for instance, signs to 
warn members of the approach of United 
States officials seeking to make arrests. 
IJhe order has also established "what are 
called baiUe-signals, by means of "which, as 
is, ia asserted, a member serving in the army 
may communicate with the enemy in the field, 
ajad thus escape personal harm in case of attack 
or capture. The most recent of these signals 
represented lo have |been adopted by the order 
iii a hve-pointed copper star, worn under the 
«iMit, which is to be disclosed upon meeting an 
eiaeji» V, who will thus recognize in the wearer 
a sympathizer and an ally. A similar star of 
<jr€rman silver, hung in a frame, is said to be 
aumerously displayed by members or their fa- 
milies in private houses in Indiana, for the pur- 
pose oi insuring protection to their property in 
case of a raid or other attack ; and it is stated 
that in many dwellings in that State, a portrait 
of John Morgan is exhibited for a similar pui"- 
pose. 

Other signs are used by members, and espe- 
cially the officers of the order, in their corre- 
spondence. Their letters, when of an official 
chaiacter, are generally conveyed by special 
messengers, but when transmitted through the 
mail, are usually in cipher. When written in 
the ordinary manner, a character at the foot of 
the latter, consisting of a circle with a line 
<'urawn across the centre, signities to the mem- 
ber who receives it that the statements as writ- 
ten are to be understood in a eense direoliy the 
opposite to that which would ordinarily be con<- 
veyed. 

it is to be added that the meetings of the or- 
der, especially in the country^ are generally 
held at night and in secluded places., and that 
the approach to them is carefully guarded by a 



line of sentinels, who are passed only by means 
of a special countersign, which is termed the 
"picket." 

VI. ITS WRITTEN PRINCIPLES. 

The " Declaration of Principles," which is set 
forth in the ritual of the order, has already been 
alluded to. This declaration, which is spe- 
cially framed for the instruction of the great 
mass of members, commences with the follow- 
ing specious proposition : 

" All men are endowed by the Creator with 
certain rights, equal as far as there is equality 
in the capacity for the appreciation, enjoyment, 
and exercise of those rights." And subse- 
quently there is added : ** In the Divine econo- 
my no" individual of the human race must be 
permitted to encumber the earth, to mar its as- 
pects of transcendent beauty, nor to impede the 
progress of the physical or intellectual man, 
neither in himself nor in the race to which he 
belongs. Hence, a people, upon whatever plane 
they may be found in the ascending scale of 
humanity, whom neither the divinity within 
them nor the inspirations of divine and beauti- 
ful nature around them can impel to virtuous 
action and progress onward and upward, should 
be subjected a just and humane servitude and 
tutelage to the superior race, untU they shall 
be able to appreciate the benefits and advan- 
tages of civilization." 

Here, expressed in terms of studied hypo- 
crisy, is the whole theory of human bondage — 
the right of the strong, because they are strong, 
to despoil and enslave the weak, because they 
are weak ! The languages of earth can add no- 
thing to the cowardly and loathsome baseness 
of the doctrine, as thus announced. It is the 
robber's creed, sought to be nationalized, and 
would push back the hand on the dial plate o£ 
our civilisation to the darkest periods of huatan 
history. It must b^ admitted, however, that k 
furnishes a fitting '' corner-stone" for the go- 
vernment of a rebellion, e rery fibre of whose 
body and every throb of whose soul is born of 
the traitorous ambition and slave-pen inspira- 
tions of the South. 

To these detestable tenets is added that other 
pernicious political theory of State sovereignty, 
with its necessary fruit, the monstrous doctrine 
of Secession — a doctrine which, in asserting 
that in our federative system a part is greater 
than the whole, would compel the GeneraLGo- 
vernment, like a Japanese slave, to commit 
hari-kari whenever a faithless or insolent State 
should command it to do so. 

Thus, the ritual, after reciting that the States 
of the Union are " free, independent, [and sove- 
reign," proceeds as follows : 

*' The Government designated ' The United 
States of America' has no sovereignty, because 
that is an attribute with which the people, in 
their several and distinct political organizations, 
are endowed, and is inalienable. It was consti- 
tuted by the terms of the compact, by all the 
States, through the express will of the people 
thereof, respectively — a common agent, to use 
and exercise certain named, specified, defined, 
and limited powers which are Inherent of the 
sovereignties within those States. It is permit- 
ted, so far as regards its status and relations, as 
common agent in the exercise of the powers 
carefully and jealously delegated to it, to call 
itself 'supreme,' but not '■sovereign.^ In ac- 



cordtiuco with the principles upon which is 
tOTindcd the Ameruran. theory, Government can 
aierciBC only delegated power ; hence, if those 
wlio bhall hBV3 been chosen to administer the 
(jroverament shall assume to exercise poweBS 
not delegated, they should be regarded and 
treated as usurpers. The reference to ' inherent 
power,' 'war power,' or 'military necessity.' 
on the part of the functionary for the sanction 
of an arbitrary exercise of power by him, we will 
not accept in palliation or excuse." 

To this is added, as a corollary, " it is in- 
compatible with the history and nature of our 
system of government that Federal authority 
should cotrce by arms a sovereign State." 

The declaration of principles, however, doee 
not stop here, but proceeds one step farther, as 
loUows : 

" Whenever the chosen officers or delegates 
shall fail or refuse to administer the Govern- 
ment in strict accordance with the letter of the 
accepted Constitution, it is the inherent right 
and the solemn and imperative duty of the peo- 
ple to resist the functionaries, and, if need be, 
to erpei them byjorce of arms ! Such resistance 
is not revolution, but is solely the assertion of 
right — the exercise of all the noble attributes 
which impart honor and dignity to manhood, " 

To the same effect, though in a milder tone. 
Is the platform of the order in Indiana, put 
forth by the Grand Council at their meeting in 
February last, which declares that " the right 
to alter or abolish their government, whenever 
it fails to secure the blessings of liberty, is one 
of the inalienable rights of the people that can 
aever be surrendered." 

Such then are the principles which the new 
member swears to observe and abide by in his 
obligation, set forth In the ritual, where he 
says: "I do solemnly promise that I will ever 
cherish in my heart of hearts the sublime creed 
oC the E. K. (Excellent Ejiights), and will, so 
far as in me lies, illustrate the same in my in- 
tercourse with men, and wiU defend the principles 
thereof, if need be, with my life, whensoever as- 
sailed, in my own country first of all. I do fur- 
liber solemnly declare that I will never take np 
arms in behalf of any government which does not 
acknowledge the sole authority or power to be 
the will of the governed." 

In the same connection may be quoted the 
following extracts from the ritual, as illustrat- 
ing the principle of the right of revolution 
aoii resistance to constituted authority in- 
sisted upon by the order: 

"Out swords shall be unsheathed whenever 
the great principles which we aim to inculcate 
and have sworn to maintain and defend are 
assaUed." 

Again. "I do solemenly promise, that when 
soever the principles which our order inenlcateb 
shall be assailed in my own State or country, 1 
willd*!fend these principles with my sword and 
my life, in whatsoever capacity may be assigned 
me by the competent authority of our order." 

And further: "I do promise that I will, at 
all times, if needs be, take up arms in thecause 
of the oppressed — in my own country first ot 
all — against any power or government usurped, 
which may be found in arms and waging war 
against a people or peoples who are endeavor- 
ing to establish, or have inaugurated, a govern 
• laont for themselves of their own free choice.'- 



Moreover, it is to be noted that all the ad- 
dresses and speeches of its leaders breathe the 
same principle, ef the right of forcible resie- 
tance to the Government, as one of the tenete 
of the order. 

Thus P. C. Wright, Supreme Commander, in. 
his general address of December, I860, after 
urging that "the spirit of the fathers may ani- 
mate the free minds, the brave hearts, and stiM 
unshackled limbs of the true democraaf^ (mean- 
ing the members of the order), adds es fol- 
lows : "To be prepared for the crisis now ap- 
proaching, we must catch from afar the ear- 
liest and faintest breathings of the spirit of 
the storm ; to be successful when the storm, 
comes, we must be watchful, patient, brave, 
confident, organized, armed.'^ 

Thus, too,"Dodd, Grand Commander of the 
order in Indiana, quoting, in his address of 
February last, the views of his chief, Vallan- 
digham. and adopting them as his own, says : 

He (Vallandigham) judges that the Wash- 
ington power will not yield up its power, un- 
til it is taken from them by an indignant peo- 
ple, by force of arms.' ^ 

Such, then, are the written principles of the 
order in which the neophyte is instructed, and 
which he is sworn to cherish and observe as 
his rule of action, when, with arms placed in 
hia hands, he is called upon to engage in the 
overthrow of his Government. This declara- 
tion — first, of the absolute right of slavery .- 
second, of ^tate sovereignty and the right of 
secession ; third, of the right of armed resis- 
tance to constituted authority on the part of 
the disaffected and the disloyal, whenever their 
ambition may prompt them to revolution — is 
but an assertion of that abominable theory 
which, from its first enunciation, served as a 
pretext for conspiracy after conspiracy against 
the Government on the part of Southern trai 
tors, until their detestable plotting culminated 
in open rebellion and bloody civil war. What 
more appropriate name, therefore, to be com- 
municated as a password to the new member 
upon his first admission to the secrets of the 
order could have been conceived, than that 
which was actually adopted— that of "Cal- 
houn !" — a man, who, bafllled in his lust for 
power, with gnashing teeth, turned upon the 
Government that had lifted him to its highest 
honors, and upon the country that had borne 
him, and down to the very close of his fevered 
life, labored incessantly to scatter far and wide 
the seeds of that poison of death, now upon cm 
lips. The thorns which now pierce and tear us 
are of the tree he planted. 

vs. — IT3 SPBCMFIC PtTtPOSES AND OPBBATIOMS. 

From the principles of the order, as thus set 
forth, its general purpose of cooperating with 
the rebellion may readily be inferred, and, in 
fact, those principles could logically lead to no 
other result. This general purpose, indeed, is 
distinctly set forth in the personal statementB 
and confessions of its members, and partien- 
larly of its prominent officers, who have been 
induced to make disclosures to the Government. 
Among the most significant of these confes- 
sions are those already alluded to, of Hunt, 
Dunn, and Smith, the heads of the order in 
Missouri. The Latter, whose statemen'- is fill 
and explicit, says : " At the time 1 joined the 



10 



si'der, 1 understood that its object was to aid 
and assist the Confederate Government, and 
endeavor to restore the Union as it was prior to 
this rebellion." He adds: "The order is hos- 
tile in every'respect to the General Government, 
and friendly" to the so-called Confederate €tO- 
Temment. It is exclnsively made np of dis- 
loyal persons — of all Democrats who are desi- 
Toas of securing the independence of the Con- 
federate States, with a view of restorjas; the 
Union as it was." 

it would be idle to comment on such gib- 
berish as the statement that "the independence 
of the Confederate States" was t& be used as 
tke means of restoring "the Union as it was;" 
and jet, under the manipulations of these 
trattorous jugglers, doubtless the brains of 
many have been so far muddled as to accept 
tbis shameless declaration as true. 

But to proceed to the specific purposes of the 
©rder, which its leaders have had in view froiD 
the beginning, and which, as will be seen, it 
has been able, in many cases, t& carry oiit with 
very considerable success, the following are 
found to be most pointedly presented by the 
iestimony. 

1. Aidmg Soldiersto Desert, a'/id Sarhoring and 
Protecting Deserters.— ^arly in its history the 
Brder essayed to undermine such portions of 
the army as were exposed to its insidious ap- 
proaches. Agents were sent by the K. G. C. into 
Ihe camps to introduce the order among the 
5«ldiers, and those who became members were 
Instructed to induce as many of their compa- 
nions as possible to desert, and for this pur- 
pose the latter were furnished by the order with 
oroBey and citizens' clothing. Soldiers who 
hesitated at desertion, but desired to leave the 
army, were introduced to lawyers who engaged 
to furnish them some q^iasi legal pretest for so 
doing, and a certain attorney of Indianapolis, 
•named Walpole, who was particularly con- 
spicuous in furnishing facflities of this cha- 
racter to soldiers who applied to him, has 
boasted that he has thus aided five hundred en- 
listed men to escape from their contracts. 
Through the schemes of the order in Indiana, 
whole companies were broken up; a large de- 
iachment. of a battery company, for instance, 
deserting on one occasion to the enemy, with 
two of its guns, and the camps were imbued 
with a spirit of discontent and dissatisfaction 
with the service. Some estimate of the num- 
lier of deserters at this time may t)e derived 
fc-om a report of the Adjutant General of In- 
diana, of January, in 18G3, setting forth that 
the number of deserters and absentees returned 
to the army through the post of Indisnapolis 
alone, daring the month of December, 1862, 
was nearly two thousand six hundred. 

As soon as arrests of these deserters began to 
be generally made, writs of habeas corpyis were 
issued in tneir cases by disloyal judges, and a 
considerable number were discharged thereon. 
In one instance m Indiana, where an oiBficer in 
charge of a deserter properly refused to obey thf 
writ, alter it had been suspended in STieh casets 
by the Presid-ent, his attachment for con- 
tempt was ordered by the chief justice 
of the State, who declared that *'tbe streets ot 
Indianapolis might run with blood, but that ho 
woidd enforce his authority against the Presi- 
dOTit's order." On another occesion cert.air 



CFnited States officers who had made the arrest 
of deserters in Illinois were themeelves arrested, 
.•"or kidnapping, aad held to trial by a disloyal 
judge, who at the same time discharged the 
deserters, though «oknowledging tkem to be 
such. 

Soldiers, upon deserting, were assured of im- 
munity from punishment, and protection on tke 
part of the order, and were instructed to bring 
away with them their arms, and, if mounted, 
their horses. Details sent to arrest them \»y the 
military authorities were in several oases foi- 
cibly resisted, and, where not unusually strong 
in numbers, were driven back by large bodies 
of men, subsequently generally ascertained to 
be members of the order. Where arrests were 
effected, our troops were openly attacked and 
fired upon, on their return. Instances of such 
attacks occurring in Morgan and Rush coun- 
ties, Indiana, are especlBllj noticed by GeoeBal 
Carrington. In the case of the outbreak in 
Morgan county, J. S. Bingham, editor of the 
Indianapolis iSentinel, a member or friend of 
the order, sought to forward to the disloyal 
newspapers of the West false and inflammatory 
telegraphic despatches in regard to the affaiTj 
to the effect that cavalry had been sent to «i- 
resi all the Democrats in the county, that they 
had committed gross outrages, and fchat several 
citizens had beea shot; and adding: '"Ben 
thousand soldiers cannot hold the men arrested 
this aight. Civil war and bloodshed are inevi- 
table." The assertions in the despatch were 
entirely false, and may serve to illustrate the 
fact heretofore' noted, that a studious misrepre- 
sentation in regard to the acts of the Govern- 
ment and its officers is a part of the prescribed 
duty of members of the order. It is to be added 
that seven of the party in Morgan county who 
made the attack upon our troops were con- 
victed of their offence by a State court. "Bpon 
their trial it was proved that the party was com- 
posed of members of the K. G. C. 

One of the most pointed instances of protec- 
tion furnished to deserters occurred in a casein 
IncMana, where seventeen deserters entrenched 
themselves in a log cabin with a ditch and pa- 
lisade, and were furnished with provisions and 
sustained in their defence against oar mklitaiy 
authorities for a considerable period by the 
order or its friends. 

2. Discouraging Urdistments aatd Jiesisting 
the Draft. — It is especially inculcated by the 
order to oppose the reinforcement ol ovs 
armies, either by volunteers or drafted men. 
in 1862, the Knights of the Golden Circle 
organized generally to resist the draft in the 
Western States, and were strong enough in cer- 
tain localities to greatly embarrass the Govena- 
ment. In this year and early in 186S, a num- 
ber of enrolling officers were shot in Indiana 
and Illinois. In Blackford county, Iniiona, an 
attack was made upon the court-house, andthe 
books connected with the draft were destroyed. 
In several counties of the State a considerable 
military force was required for the protection ©f 
the Unltid States officials, and a large number 
of arrests were made, including that of one- 
Reynolds, an ex- Senator of the tegielature, for 
publicly urging upon the populace to rtsist tJhe 
conscription — an offence of the same character, 
in fact, as that upon which Vallandigham wae- 
apprehended ia Ohio. These outbreaks were.. 



11 



ao doubt, in most caseB, i.icittd by the order, 
and engaged in by its members. In Indiann 
nearly 209 porsoDS were indicted for conspiracy 
against the Government, resisting the draft, 
&C.. and about sixty of these were convicted. 

Where members of the order were forced int i 
tfae army by the draft, they were instructed, iu 
case they were pre\'tnted from presently es- 
caping, and were obliged to go to the Held, to 
nse their arms in battle against their fellow- 
EOtdiers, rather than the enemy, or, if possible, 
to desert to tJie enemy, by whom, through the 
signs of the order, they would be recognized 
£Hid received as friends. It is to be added that 
whenever a member volunteered in the army, he 
was at OBce expelled from the order. 

S. Oircuiatlon of Disloyal cmd Treasonable Pvbli- 
JMPions, — The order, especially in Missouri, has 
secretly circulated throughout the country s 
great quantity of treasonable publications, as a 
means of extending its own power and influence, 
as well as ofgiving encouragement to the disloya! 
and inciting them to treason. Of these, some 
of the principal are the following: "Pollard's 
Southern History of the War," " Official Re- 
ports of the Confederate Government," "Life 
of Stonewall Jackson," pamphlets containing 
articles from the " Metropolitan Record," 
*' Abraham Africanus, or Mysteries of the 
White House," "The Lincoln Catechism, or a 
G«iid« to the Presidential election of 1864," 
*' Indestructible Organtcs," by Tirga, These 
publications have generally been procured by 
formal requisitions tlrawnupon the grand com- 
mander by leading members in the interior 
of a 8taie. One of these requieitions, dated 
JuHU 1-Oth last, and drawn by a local secretary 
of the order at Gentery ville. Mo., is exhibited in 
the testimony. It contains a column of the 
initials of a Eumber of subscribers, opposite 
whose names are entered the number of disloyal 
publications to be furnished, the particular 
book or books, &c., required being indicated by 
fictitious titles. 

4. ConvmimicatiTKi with, and O-iving Intelligence 
to, the Knemy. — dmifi, Grand Secretary of 
the order in Jlissonri, says, in his confession : 
"Rebel spies, mail-carriers, and emissaries 
have been carefully protected by this order ever 
since I have been a member." It is shown in 
the testimony to be customary in the rebel ser- 
vice to employ members of the order as spies, 
under the guise of soldiers furnished with fur- 
loughs to visit their homes within our lines. 
On coming within the territory occupied by our 
forces, they are harbored and supplied with in- 
formation by the order. Another class of spies 
claim to be deserters from the enemy, and at 
once seek an opportunity to lake the oath of al- 
legiance, which, however, though voluntarily 
taken, they claim to be administered while they 
are under a species of duress, and, therefore, 
not to be binding. Upon swearing; allegiance 
to the Government, the pretended deserter en- 
iBjages, with tbe assistance of the order, in col- 
lecting contraband goods or procuring intellj- 
g:ence to be convejed to tbe enemy, or in some 
other treasonable enterprise. In his official re- 
port of June 13th last, Colonel Saaderson ro 
marks: "This department is tilled with rebel 
spies, all of whom belong to the order." 

In Missouri, regular mail communication was 
for a long period maintained through the 



agency of the orierf rom 8t. Louis to Pricfc'e 
army, by means of which private letters as weB 
as official despatches between him and the 
Grand Commander of Missouri were regularly 
transmitted. The mail- carriers started from a 
■ooint on the Pacific railroad, near Klrkwood 
Station, about fourteen miles from St. Louis, 
and, travelling only by night, proceeded (t© 
quote from Col . Sanderson's report) to"Mat- 
tox Mills, on the Maramee river, theace pass 
Mineral Point to Webster, thence to a point 
fifteen miles below Van Bnren, where they 
crossed the Block river, and thence to the rebel 
lines." It is, probably, also by this route that 
the secret correspondence, stated by the witness 
Pitman to have been constantly kept up between 
Price and Vallandigham, the heads of the orde^ 
at the North and South, respectively, was <sa* 
cessfully maintained. 

A similar com-muication has been contiau- 
ouely held with the enemy from Louisville, Ken- 
tucky. A considerable number of women ic 
that State, many of them of high position ire 
rebel society, and some of them outwardly pro- 
fessing to be loyal, were discovered to have 
been actively engaged in receiving and for- 
warding mails, with the oseistance of the order 
and as its instrnmenta. Two of the most noto- 
rious and successful of these, Mrs. Woods and 
Miss Cassell, have been apprehended and ka • 
prisoned. 

By means of this correspondence with the 
enemy, the members of the order were promptly 
apprised of all raids to be made by tlw3 forces of 
the former, and were able to hold them- 
selves prepared to render aid and coralor-i 
to the raidei-8. To show how efficieai 
for this purpose was tbe system thus esta- 
blished, it is to be added that our railitarj' 
authorities have, in a number of cases, been in- 
formed, through members of the order, em- 
ployed in the interest of the Government, of 
impending raids, and important army move- 
ments of the rebels, not only days, but some- 
times weeks, sooner than the same intelligence 
eould have reached them through the ordinaFy 
channels. 

On the olherhand, the system oieapionage kept 
up by the order, for the purpose of obtaining 
informal'on of the movements of our own 
forces, &c., to be imparted to the enemy, eeeniB 
to have been as perfect as it was secret. Tbe 
Grand Secretary of the order iu Missouri statee, 
in hia confession: " One of the especial objeete 
of this order was to place members in steam- 
boats, ferryboats, telegraph offices, exprese 
offices, department headquarters, provost mar- 
shal's office, and, in fact, in every position 
where they could do valuable service;" and he 
proceeds to specify certain members who, at 
the date of his confession (August 3d lost), 
were employed at the express and telegra^ 
offices in St. Louis. 

5. Aiding the Enemy, by Recruitingjor them, er 
Asiisting them to Jiccruit, within our lines. — Thio 
has also tieen extensively carried on by meno- 
bers of the ordpr, particularly in Kentucky and 
Missouri. It is estimated that 3 000 men were 
sent South, from Louisville alone, during a few 
weeks in April and May, 1804. Tho order and 
its friends at that city have a permanent fund, 
to which there are many subpcribers, for tiie 
purpose of fitting out with pistols, clothing 



12 



money, &c., men desiriag lo join the Southern 
service; and, in tlie lodges of the order in St. 
Louis and Northern Missouri, money has often 
been raised to purchase horses, arms, and equip- 
ments for soldiers about to b*! forwarded to 
the Southern army. In the latter State, par- 
ties empowered by Price, or by Grand Com- 
mander Hunt as his representative, to recruit 
for the rebel service, were nominally authorized 
■to "locate lands,'' as it was expressed, and in 
their reports, which were formally made, the 
aumber of acres, &c. , located represented the 
aamber ef men recruited. At Louisville, those 
'desiring to join the Southern forces were kept 
Mdden, and supplied with food and lodging un- 
tU. a convenient occasion was presented for their 
transportation South. They were then collected, 
and conducted at night to a safe rendezvous of 
the order, whence they were forwarded to their 
destination, in some cases, stealing horses 
from the United States corrals on their way . 
Whila awaiting an occasion to be sent South, 
the men, to avoid the suspicion which 
might be excited by their being seen to- 
-gether in any considerable number, were often 
employed on farms in the vicinity of Louis- 
viile, and the farm of one Moore, in that neigh- 
'faorhood (at whose house also meetings of the 
order were held), is indicated in the testimony 
as one of the localities where such recruits 
were so rendezvoused and employed. 

The same facilities which were afforded to 
recruits for the Southern army were also 
furnished by the order to persons desiring to 
;9roceed beyond our lines for any illegal pur- 
pose. By these Lonisville was generally pre- 
ferred as a point of departure, and, on the Mis- 
sissippi river, a particular steamer, the.Graham, 
was selected as the safest convenience. 

6. Furnishing the Rebels with Arms, Ammuni- 
jjujn, &c. — In this, too, ;the order, and espe- 
cially its female members and allies, has been 
sedulously engaged. The rebel women of Lou- 
i-swlle and Kentucky are represented as having 
rendered the most valuable aid to the Southern 
army, by transporting very large quantities of 
percussion caps, powder, &c., concealed upon 
their persons, to some convenient locality near 
the lines, whence they could be readily con- 
veyed to those for whom they were intended, 
Lt is estimated that at Louisville, up to May 1 
last, the sum of $17,000 had been invested by 
the order in ammunition and arms .to be for- 
warded principally iu this manner to the rebels. 
In St. Louis several firms, who are well known 
to the Government, the principal of which is 
Beauvais & Co., have been engaged in supply- 
ing arms and ammunition to members of the 
order, to be conveyed to their Southern allies. 
Mary Ann Pitman, a reliable witness, and a 
member of the O. A. K,, who will herealter be 
specially alluded to, states in her testimony 
that she visited Beauvais & Co. three times, and 
procured from them on each occasion about 
$89 worth of caps, besides a number of pistols 
and cartridges, which she cawied in person to 
Forrest's command, beside a much larger 
quantity of similar articles which she caused to 
be forwarded by other agents. The guerillas in 
Missouri also received arms from St. Louis, 
and one Douglas, one of the most active con- 
spirators of the O. A. K. in Missom'i, and a 
■.special emissary of Price, was arrested while 



in the act of transporting a box of forty re- 
volvers by railroad to a gneriHa camp in the 
interior of the State. Medical stores in large 
quantities were also, by the aid of the order, 
furnished to the enemy; and a surgeon in Leu- 
isville is mentioned as having "made $75,0M 
by smuggling medicines" through the lines of 
our army. Supplies were in some cases con- 
veyed to the enemy through the medium of 
professed loyalists, who, having received per- 
mits for that purpose from the United States 
military authoritiea, would forward their goods, 
as if for ordmary purposes of trade, to a cer- 
tain point near the rebel lines, where, by the 
connivance of the owners, the enemy would 
be enabled to seize them. 

7. Codperati7ig with the E^nemy in Raids and In- 
vasions. — While it is clear tnat the order has 
given aid, both directly and indirectly, to the 
forces of the rebels, and to guerUla bands, when 
engaged in making incujisions into the border 
States, yet because, on the one hand, of the 
constant restraint upon its action exercised by 
our military authoritietj, and, on the other hand, 
of the general success of our armies in the field 
over those of the enemy, their allies at the North 
have never thus far been able to carry out their 
grand plan of a general armed rising of the 
order, and its cooperation on an extended scale 
with the Southern forces. This plan has been 
two-fold, and consisted — first, of a rising of the 
order in Missouri, aided by a strong detachment 
fro 01 Illinois, and a cooperation with a rebei 
army under Price ; second, of a similar rising in 
Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, and a coopera- 
tion with a force under Breckinridge, Buckaier, 
Morgan, or some other rebel commander, who 
was to invade the latter State. In this case the 
order was first to cut the railroads andtelegra]»h 
wires, in order that intelligence of the move- 
ment might not be sent abroad and the trans- 
portation of Federal troops might be delayed, 
and then to seize upon the arsenals at Indi- 
anapolis, Columbus, Springfield, Louisville, and 
Frankfort, and, furnishing such of their nmn- 
ber as were without arms, to kill or make 
prisoners of department, district, and post 
commanders, release the rebel prisoners at Rook 
Island, and at Camps Morton, Douglas, and 
Chase, and thereupon join the SoutViern army 
at Louisville or some other point in Kentucky, 
which State was to be permanently occupied by 
the combined force. At the period of the move- 
ment it was also proposed that an attack shoidd 
be made upon Chicago by means of steam-tugs 
mounted with cannon. A similar course was 
to be taken in Missouri, and was to result in 
the permanent occupation of the State. 

This plan has long occupied the minds of 
members of the order, and has been continually 
discussed by them iu their lodges A rising 
somewhat of the character described was in- 
tended to have taken place in the spring of this 
year, simultaneously with an expected advance 
of the army of Lee upon Washington ; but the 
plans of the enemy having been anticipated by 
the move-ments of our own generals, the rising 
of the conspirators was necessarily postponed. 
Again, a general movement of the Southern 
forces was anticipated to take place abotrt 
July 4, and with this the order was to co- 
operate. A speech to be made by Tallendig- 
ham at the Chicago Convention was, it is 



13 



said, to bo tke signal for tiie rising ; but 
tbe postponement of the convention, as well 
as the failure of the rebel armies t» engage in 
tbe anticipated movement, again operated to 
disturb the schemes of the order. IJoring the 
summer, however, the grand plan of action 
above set forth has been more than ever dis- 
•tissed throughout the order, and its snccess 
Host confidently predicted, while at the same 
time an extensive organization and preparation 
for carrying their conspiracy into effect have been 
actively going on. But, up t* this time, not- 
withstanding the late raids of the enemy in 
Kentucky, and the invasion of Missouri by 
Price, no s^ch general action on the part of the 
order as was contemplated has taken place — a 
result, in great part, owing to the activity of our 
military authorities in strengtl\ening the detach- 
ments at the prisons, arsenals, &c., and in 
caasing the arrest of the leading conspirators 
in the several States, and especially in the seiz 
ure of Urge quantities of arms which had been 
shipped for the nsoof the order in their intended 
outbreak. It was, doubt loss, on account of these 
precautions that the day last appointed for tLe 
rising of the order in Indiana and Kentucky 
(Aflgiiot 16) passed by with but slight disordei. 
* It is, however, the inability of the public 
enemy, in the now declining days of the rebel- 
UoEo to initiate the desired movements which 
has prevented the order from engaging in open 
warfare; and it has lately been seriously con- 
sidered in their councils, whether they shou'd 
not proceed with their revolt, relying alone upon 
the guerilla hands of Sypheri, Jesse, and otherE , 
lor support and assistance. 

With these guerillas the orderhas always most 
readily acted along the border. The latter, xn 
cases of the caoture by the Union forces of 
Northern xiiembers of the order engaged in co- 
operating with them, have frequently retaliated 
by seizing prominent Union citizens, and holding 
them as hostages for the release of their allies. 
At other times our Government has been offi- 
cially notitied by the rebel authorities that if 
the members of the order captured were no: 
treated by us as ordinary prisoners of war, re- 
taliation would be resorted to. 

An atrocious plan of concert between mem- 
bers of the order in Indiane and certain gnerilla 
bands of Kentucky, agreed upon last spring, 
may be remarked upon in this connection, 
dome 3,500 or 3^0Q0 guerillas were to be thrown 
into the border counties, and were to assume 
the character of refugees seeking employment. 
Being armed, they were secretly to destroy Go- 
vernment property wherever practicable, to con- 
trol tbe elections by force, prevent enlistments, 
aid deserters, and stir up strife between tbe 
civil and military authorities. 

A singular feature of tae raids of the enemy 
remains only to be adverted to, viz : that the 
ofiicers conducting these roids are furnished by 
the rebel Govern uieat wiih quantities of United 
States Treasury notes for iise within our lines, 
and til at these are probably most frequently 
procured through the atrency of memhere of 
«t«oidei-. 

Mary Ann Pitmaa, believed to be a true and 
faithful witness, states that Forrest, of the 
rebel army, at one time exhibited to her a letter 
toMmself from a prominent rebel sympathizer 
«nd member of the order in Washington. D. C, 



in which it was set forth that the sum of $20,- 
000 in "greenbacks" had actually been for- 
warded by him lo the rebel Government at Rict- 
mond. 

8. Destruction of Government Frojycrty. — There 
js no doubt that large quantities of Government 
property have been burned or otherwise de- 
stroyed by the agency of the order in differeBS. 
localities, .'-t Louisville, in the case of the' 
steamer Taylor, and on the Mississippi river, 
steamers belonging to the United States have 
been burned at the wharves, and generally whecj 
loaded with Government stores. Shortly before 
the arrest of Bowles, the senior of the majorr 
generals of the order in Indiana, he had beer.' 
engaged in the preparation of " Greek Fire,"' 
which was to be found serviceable in tlie de- 
struction of public property. It was generallj^ 
understood in the councils of the order, in the 
State of Kentucky, that they were to be eom - 
pensated for such destruction by the rebel Go- 
vernment, by receiving a commission of ter. 
per cent, of the value of the property so de • 
stroyed, and that this value was to be derived 
from the estimate of the loss made in each cass 
by Northern newspapers. 

9. Destruction of Private Property and Fene- 
:-ution of Union Men, — It is reported by General 
Carrington that the full development of the 
order in Indiana was followed by " a state of 
terrorism " among the Union residents of ""por- 
tions of Brown, Morgan, Johnson, Rush, Clay, 
Sullivan, Bartholomew, Hendricks, and other 
counties " in that State ; that from some locali- 
ties they v/ere driven away altogether ; that in 
otners their barns, hay, and wheat- ricks, were 
burned ; and that many persons under the gene- 
ral insecurity of life and property sold their 
effects at a sacrifice and removed to other places. 
At one time in Brown county, the members 
of the order openly threatened the lives et 
all '• Abolitionists" who refused to sigH a 
peace memorial which they had prepared and 
addressed to Congress. In Missouri, also, simi- 
lar outrages committed upon the property of 
loyal citizens are attributable in a great degree 
to the secret order. 

In this connection the outbreak of the miners 
in the coal districts of eastern Pennsylvania, 
in the autumn of last year, may be appropri- 
ately referred to. It was fully shown in the 
testimony adduced, upon the trials of these in- 
surgents, who were guilty of the destruction of 
property and numerous acts of violence, as well 
as murder, that they were generally members of 
a secret treasonable association, similar in all 
respects to the K. G. C, at the meetings of 
which they had been incited to the commisBion 
of the crimes for which they were tried tncJ 
convicted. 

10. Assassination and Murder. — After what 
has been disclosed in regard to this infamous 
league of traitors and ruffians, it will not be a 
matter of surprise to learn that the cold-blooded 
assassination of Union citizens and fiddlers jtas 
been included in their devilish scheme of ope- 
rations. Green B. Smith states in his confes- 
sion that "Tbe secret assassination of United 
States officers, soldiers, and (Jovemment em- 
ployes hu3 been discussed in the councils of 
the order and recommended." It is also 
shown in the course of the testimony that at a 
large meeting of the order in St. Louis, in May 



14 



or June last, itwas peoposed to form a secret 
police of members of the order for the purpose 

of patrolling the streets of that city at night 
sad killing every detective and soldier ttiat 
ceuld be readily disposed of; that thie proposi- 
tion was coolly considered, and finally rejected, 
aot because of its fiendish character — no voice 
betog raised against its criminality — but because 
only it was deemed premature. At Louisville, 
in June last, a similar scheme was discussed 
among the order forthe waylaying and butcher- 
iag of negro soldiers in the streets at night; 
and in the same month a party of its members 
ia that city was actually organized for the pnr- 
)o«6e of throwing off the tf'ack cf the Nashville 
railroad a train of colored troops and seizing 
Cfae opportunity to take the lives of as many as 
possible. Again, in July^ the assassination of 
an obnoxious provost marshal, by betraying 
■ bim into the hands of guerillas, was designed 
by members in the interior of Kentucky. Far 
Aher, at a meeting of the Grand CouacU of In 
'iSiana at Indianapolis on June 14th last, the 
murder of ©ne CofB.H, a Goveru'Tnent detective, 
Avbo, as it was supposed, had betrayed the 
•OTder, was deliberately difcussed and fully 
•determined upon. This fact is stated by Stidger 
'.in his report to General Carringtoii o iJunelTth 
last, and is more fully set forth in his testimony 
mpon the trial of Dodd. He deposes that a 
the meeting in question, Dodd himself volun- 
'fieered to go to namifton, Ohio, where Coffin 
was espected to ha fotrnd, and there "dispose 
j>f the latter, '' He adds that prior to the meet 
ing, he himself conveyed from Judgs Bnllltt, n 
Jlaouisville, to Bowles and Dodd, at Indianapolis 
special instructions to have Coffin "put out o 
the way" — "murdered" — "at all hazards." 

The opinion is expressed by Colonel Sander- 
flon, under date of June 12 last, that "there- 
cent numerous cold-blooded assassinations of 
oiilitary officers and unconditional Union men 
throughout the military district of North Mis- 
souri, especially along the western border," is 
-to be ascribed to the agency of the order. The 
witness, Pitman, represents that it is "a part of 
:the obligation or understanding of the order" to 
Mil officers and eoldiers "ts.^sn5»«r ii can.be don^ 
>hy stealthy "as well as loyal eitizeno when con- 
•^^sidered importEut or infiaential persons; and 
she adds, that while at Memphis, during the 
past summer, she knew that men on picket we^-e 
'cesretly billed by members of the order ap- 
proaching them in disguise. 

la this connection may be recalled the whole- 
•.^Tsaile assassination of Union soldier.^ by mem- 
bere of the order and their confederates at 
' iSharleston, Illinois, in March last, in regard to 
■wbich, as a startling episode of the rebellion, e 
.^fall report was addressed from this offiee to the 
President, under date of Jwly 26 lasU This 
'Concerted murderous assault upon a scattered 
body of men, mostly unarmed — apparently de- 
fjigned for the mere purpose of destroying as 
many lives of Union soldiers as possible — is a 
forcifaks illustration of the utter malignity and 
depravity which characterise the members of 
this order in their zea Ito coaimend themselves' 
as faithful allies to their fellow-conspirators at 
^t£ie South- 

M. Mtablishment of a MorUv'Mstarn Gonftede-^ 
rawy.— in concluding this review of some of the 
fiorincipa specific purposes of the order, it re- 



mains only to remark upon a further design of 
many of its leading members, the accomplieb- 
ment of which they are represented as ha^nng 
deeply at heart. Hating New England, and 
jealous of her influence and resources, and. 
claiming that the interests of the West und! 
South, naturally connected as they are through 
the Mississippi valley, ere identical, and actu- 
ated farther by an intensely revolution^p 
spirit as well as an unbridled and unprincipled 
ambition, these men have made the establL*- 
ment of a Western or Northwestern Confede- 
racy, in alliance with the South, the grand aim 
and end of all their plotting and conspiring. It 
is with this steadily in prospect that they are 
constantly seeking to produce discontent, dis- 
organization, and civil disorder at the North, 
With this view, they gloat over every reverse 
of the armies of the Union, and desire that fee 
rebellion shall be protracted until the resotrrces 
of the Government shall be exhausted, its 
strength paralyzed, its currency hopelessly de- 
preciated, and confidence everywhere destroyed. 
TheUj from the anarchy which, under their 
scheme, is to ensue, the new Confederacy is to 
arise, which is either to unite itself with that «rf 
the South, or to form therewith a close and per- 
manent alliance. Futile and extravagant as 
this scJieme may appear, it is yet the settled pra?- 
iwse of many leading spirits of the secret con- 
spiracy, and is Iheir favorite subject of thought 
and discussion. Not only is this scheme de- 
liberated Hpon in the lodge's of the order, but it » 
openly proclaimed. Members of the Indiana 
Legislature, even, have publiciy announced itj 
and avowed that they will take their own State 
out of the Union, and recognize th<3 indepen- 
dence of the South. A citizen, captured by a 
guerilla band in Kentucky, last summer, rscorde 
the fact that the establishment of a new con- 
federacy as the deliberate purpose of the Western, 
people was boastfully arserted by these OTJt- 
laws, who also assured their prisoner that la 
the event of such estsblishment there would be 
"a greater rebellion than ever?" 

Lastly, it is claimed that the new confede- 
racy is already organized; that it has a "prp- 
visionaJ. government," officers, depart men tisj. 
bureaus, &c., in secret operation. No comment 
is nec^essary to be made upon this treason, not 
now contemplated for the first time in our his- 
tory. Suggested by the present rebellion, it is 
the logical consequence of the ardent and ofcta- 
sympathy therewith which is the life an* in- 
spiration of the secret order. 

Vira. TEE Vi'ITNESSES, AMD THEIB TBSTJMOlTr, 

The facts detailed in the present report haw 
been derived from a great variety ©f dissimilsr 
sources, but all the witnesses, however differeat 
their situations, concur so pointedly in then 
testimony, that the evidence which ha.< been 
furnished of the facts must be regarded a»«< 
the most reliable character. 

The principal witnesses maybe classified ss 

1. Shrewd, intelligent men, eaiployed asde- 
teetives, and with a peculiar talent tor tbeir cutt- 
ing, who have gradually gained the confldenc* 
»f leading members of the order, and in somei 
cases have been admit.ted to its templeft 
and been initiated into one or more of 
the degrees.— The most remarkable of tbese 



15 



18 atidger, formerly u private eoMier in our 
altos'^ who, by the ase of an tmcommon ad 
(lrc68, though at great personal risk, eacceedetl 
in oetablishing eaoh intimate relations with 
Bowbes, Bullitt, Dodd, and other leadera of the 
order in Indiana and Kentucky, as to be ap- 
pointed graud secretary for the latter State, a 
poBitiou the most favorable for obtaiDing infor- 
mation of the plans of these traitors and warn- 
ing the Go^'orDUient of their intentions. It is 
Co the rare fidelity cf this man, who has al£0 
been the principal witness upon the trial of 
Dodd» that the Government has been chiefly 
indebted for the exfwsnre of the designs of the 
conspirators in the two States name<]. 

3. Rebel ollicers and soldiers voluntarily or 
ijnvolantarily making disclosures to our mili- 
tary authorities. — The most valuable witnesses 
9f this class are prisoners of war, who, actu- 
ated by laudable motives, have of their own 
accord furnished a large amount of informa- 
tioa in regard to the order, especially as it 
exists in the: South, and of the relations of its 
members wKh those of the Noithera section. 
Among these, also, are soldiers at our prisoE 
camps, who, without designing it, have made 
known to our officials, by the use of the signs, 
<i;e., of the order, that they were members. 

3. Scouts employed to travel through the in- 
terior of the border States, and bIso within or 
in the neighborhood of the enemy's lines. — The 
fact that some of these were left entirely igno- 
rant of the existence of the order, upon being 
BO employed, attaches aa iDcreased value to 
their Cisco venes in regard to its operations. 

4. Citizen prisoners, to whom, while in con- 
finement, disclosures were made relative to the 
<;xistence, extent, and character of the order by 
fellow- prisoners who were leading members. 
and who, in some instances, upon becoming; 
intimate with the witness, initiated him into 
one of the degrees. 

5. Members of the order, who, upon a full 
acquaintance with its principles, have been 
appalled by its iafamous designs, and have 
voluntarily abandoned ii, freely making known 
their experience to our military authorities. In 
this cliss maybe placed the female witness, 
Mary Ann Pitman, who, though in arrest at 
the period of her disclosures, wai yet indacea 
to make them for the reason that, as she says, 
" at the last meeUng which I attended they 
passed an order which I consider as utterly 
atrocious and barbarous ; so I told them ] 
would have no'-hing more to do with them." 
This wcmau was attached to the command of 
the rebel Forrest, as an officer tinder thename of 
'' Lieutenant Rdwiey;" but, beeanse Ler sex 
afforded tec unusual facilities for crossing oar 
lines, she was often employed ia the execution 
of important commissions within our territory, 
and, ts a member of the order, was made exten- 
eivtly ecquainted with other members, both of 
the Norihern and Southern sections. Her testi- 
mony is thus peculiarly valaable, and, being f. 
person of unusual intelligence and force of 
character, her statements are eucciact, pointed, 
end emphatic. They are also especially useful 
aa fully corroborating those of other witnesses 
regarded as moat trustworthy. 

6. Officers of the order of kigh rank, who have 
been prompted' to present confessioBs, more or 
les8 detailed, In regard to the order and their 



connection with it. — The principals of theee 
are Hunt, Dunn, and Smith, grand commander, 
deputy grand commander, and grand secre- 
tary of the order in Missouri, to whoso state- 
ments frequent reference has bsen made» 
These confessions, though in some degree 
guarded and disingenuous, have fornished 
to the Government much valuable informa- 
tion in regard to the secret operations of the 
order, especially in Missouri, the affiliation of 
its leaders with Price, &c. It is to be noted, 
that Dunn makes the statement in commoa 
with other witnesses that, in emeringthe order, 
he WIS quite ignorant of its true purposes. Bfe 
Bays?"! did not become a member uudarstand-- 
Lngly; the initiatory step was taken in the 
dark, without reflection and without know- 
ledge." 

7. Deserters from our army, who, upon being 
apprehended, confessed that they had been ii>- 
duced and assisted to desert by members of tbe 
order. It was, indeed, principally from these 
confessions that the existence of the tecret trea- 
sonable organization of the K. G. C. was first 
discovered in Indiana, in the year 1802, 

8. Writers of anonymous communications, 
addressed to heads of departments or Jprovoet 
marshals, disclosing lacts corroborative of 
other more imporcaui statements. 

9. The wi:nesses before Ihe grand jury at io- 
dianapolis, in 1833, wly^ the order was fot- 
mally presented as a treasonable organization, 
and those whose testimony has been introduced 
upon the recent trial of Dodd. 

It need only be added that a most satisfactory 
test of the credibility and weight o'c much of the 
evidence which hss been furnished is afltorded 
by the printed testimony in regard to :be cba- 
raeter end intention of the order, which is 
found in its national and Slate constitutions 
and its ritual. Indeed, the statements cf the 
various witnesses are but presentations of the 
logical and inevitable consequences fland re- 
sults of the principles therein set forth. 

In concluding this review, it remains only to 
state that a constant reference hss been made to 
the elaborate official reports, in regard to the 
order, of Brigadier General Carrington, com 
manding District of Indiana, and of Colonel 
Sanderson, Provost Marshal General of the De- 
partment of Missouri. The great mass of the 
testimony upon the subject of the se.-ret con- 
spiracy has been furnished by these officers; jthe 
latter acting under tbe orders of Major General 
RoS'Jcrans, and the former cooperatinar, undet' 
the instructions of tbe Secretary of War, v>ith. 
Major General Burbridge, commanding District 
of Kentucky, as well as with Governor MortODj 
of Indiana, who, thou!j;h at one time greatly 
embarrassed, by a Legislature strongly tainted 
with disloyalty, in his efTons to repress the do- 
mestic enemy, has at list seen his State relieved 
from the danger of a civil war. 

But, although the '.reason of the order has been 
theroughly exposed, and although its capacity 
for fatal mischief has, Dy m^ans of the arrest of 
its leaders, me Feiznie of its arms, and the other 
vigorous means which have been pursued, been, 
seriously impaired, it is still busied with ita 
secret plotiings against the Government, and 
with its perddions designs in aid of ths Southern 
rebellion. It is reported to have recently issuei. 
new signs and passwords, and its members 



16 



aesert tbat fotil meanB will be need to prevect 
Sue sticcesB of the Administration at the coming 
election, and threaten an extended revolt in the 
event of the reelection of President Lincoln. 

In the presence of the rebellion and of this se- 
cret order — -which is but its echo and faithful ally 
— we cannot but be amazed at the ntter and wide- 
spread profligacy, personal and political, which 
tiese movements against the Govemmeat dis- 
elose. The guilty men engaged in them, after 
oaBting aside their allegiance, seem to have 
trodden •ander foot every sentiment of honor 
and every restraint of law, human and divine. 
Jndea produced but one Judas Iscariot, and 
■Rome, from the sints of her demoralizjtioTi, 
produced but one Cataline, and yet, as events 
prove, there has arisen together in our land an 
entire brood of such traitors, all animated by 
the same parricidal spirit, and all struggling 
with the same relentless maligaity for the 
dismerDberment of oor Unioit. Oi this 
extraordinary phenomenon — not paralleled, it 
is believed, in the world's history — there can 
be but one explanation, and all these blackened 
and fetid streams of crime may well be traced 
to the same common fountain. So fiercely 
intolerant and imperious was the temper en- 
j^endered by slavery, that when the Southern 
people, after having controlled the national 
CGUucils for half a. century, were beaten at an 
alecticn, their leadeiig turned upon the Govern- 



ment with the insolent fury with which they 
would have drawn their revolvers on a rebel- 
lious slave in one of their negro qu?trteTe; and 
they have continued since to prose cut« their 
warfare, amid all the barbarisms and atroci- 
ties naturally and necessarily ic spired by the 
infernal institution in whose interests they are 
sacrificing alike themselves and their country. 
Many of these conspirators, as is well known, 
were fed, clothed, and educated at.the espenee 
of the nation, and were loaded with its honors 
at the very moment they struck at its life with 
the horrible criminality of a son stabbing tihe 
bosom of his own mother while impressing 
kisses on his cheeks. The leaders of the tsai- 
tors in the loyal States, who so completely fra- 
ternize with these conspirators, an.d whose ma- 
chinations are now unmasked, it is as clearly 
the duty of the Administration to proseente 
and punish, as it is its duty to subjagate the 
rebels who are openly in arms against the 
Government. In the performance of this diri,y, 
it is entitled to expect, and will doubtless re- 
ceive, the zealous cooperation of true men 
everywhere, who, ia crushing the truculeDt 
foe ambushed in the haunts of this secret or- 
der, should rival in courage and faithfnlnesfl 
the armies which are so nobly eustaiuiBg ow 
flag on the battle-fields of the South, 
tiespectfully submitted. 

J. Holt, Judge Advocate Genera!. 



T7HI0W EXE€ITTI¥E CONGEESSIOWAL COMMITTEE. 



Hon. E. D. Morgan, of New York. 
" JaS; Harlan, of Iowa. 
" Ii. M. Morrill, of Maine. 
Senate. 



Hon. E. B. WashbiiTne; of Illinois. 
■' . E. B.Van Valkenburg, N.Yor' 

J. A. Garfield; of Ohio. 
" J. G. Blaine, of Maine. 
of .Representative. : ~ 



E . D. Morgan, Chairman, Jas. Harlan, Treasurer. D. N. Cooley, Seorefcai 



